Cleveland Property Receives Covenant Not to Sue Under Ohio EPA’s Voluntary Action Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 10, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — A long-time Cleveland manufacturer has received a covenant not to sue under Ohio EPA’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP), after completing an investigation and remediation of its industrial property.

The covenant was issued to Horsburgh & Scott Company for its main plant property located at 5114 Hamilton Avenue. For more than a century, the 5.4-acre property has housed manufacturing facilities for the production of gears and gear boxes.

Following standards developed by Ohio EPA, the company hired a certified professional to assess the property and address any areas of environmental concern. Remediation included the installation of a vapor removal system in the main building’s foundation.

A covenant not to sue protects the property’s owners or operators and future owners from being legally responsible to the State of Ohio for further environmental investigation and remediation relating to known releases. This protection applies only when the property is used and maintained in accordance with the terms and conditions of the covenant.

In the 18 years since Ohio EPA issued the first covenant under VAP, more than 8,000 acres of blighted land have been revitalized at nearly 400 sites across the state.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.

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